Allowing stand-alone and local control of a single LED

ABSTRACT

A telephone having key/light control logic which enables independent and dual usage of physical key/light pairs. Firmware within the telephone&#39;s key and light control logic is provided access to special tables which have definitions for each key. When a key is depressed, a feature activation code is sent uplink to notify the PBX of the user&#39;s action. In response to receipt of the feature activation code, the PBX returns a feature indication. When the telephone receives the feature indication, it scans the tables and turns on all lights for which the feature indication matches the key definition. Within the tables, an extra definition is maintained for the standalone light. This definition is downloaded by the switch at phone initialization time along with the key definitions. If the switch defines a key definition as &#34;local&#34; then the user programs the definition of that key either via the phone keypad or through an application. The independent or dual usage of a light is achieved by using a special case code in the phone firmware when the lights are being lit via feature indications from the switch. If the feature indication matches the key definition for the key reserved, for example, for Mute, then the light is lit only if the key is a locally defined key. In this way, lights for local keys will always match their key definition. Conversely, if the feature indication matches the definition for the standalone light, the light next to the Mute key is lit only if the key is system defined.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/774,002 filed Dec. 26, 1996, nowabandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/504,090 filed Jul. 19,1995 now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/916,287 filedJul. 17, 1992 now abandoned.

I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to telephone equipment and related applicationprograms;

B. Related Art

A programmable office telephone typically includes a number of keys forperforming user definable functions. For example, by way of thetelephone keyboard or an applications program running on a connectedcomputer, keys can be selectively programmed to activate such functionsas mute, hold, do not disturb or conference call. In many suchtelephones, each key has an adjacently located light which isautomatically turned on when the function for which the key has beendefined is activated. For example, a key depression may place the phonein Do Not Disturb mode and the associated, adjacent light will turn onto indicate that fact to the user. Thus, in such telephones, the keysand lights are said to be both physically and logically paired. That isto say, a particular light is only turned on in response to theactivation of a feature caused by the depression of the adjacent key.

In some prior art telephones there are lights which are neither adjacentto any key nor associated with any defined key function. For example, insome prior art ROLM telephones, there is a standalone "call waiting"light which is activated directly by way of a command from the PBXrather than in direct response to depression of a corresponding key onthe face of the telephone. Similarly, in some prior art telephones thereare standalone keys which have no adjacent or associated light. Forexample, in many telephones there are standalone keys (i.e. keys nothaving an associated light) dedicated to automatic dialing of prestoredtelephone numbers.

It is known in the art to provide a telephone with means to maintain thecorrespondence between a given feature and a physical key/light pair.For example, it is known to provide the firmware within the key andlight control logic with access to tables which have definitions foreach key. When a key is depressed, a feature activation code (keydefinition) is sent uplink to notify the switch (e.g. the PBX) of theuser's action. In response to receipt of the feature activation code,the PBX returns an LED cadence command (feature indication). When thetelephone receives the cadence command for a feature, it scans thetables and turns on all lights for which the feature indication matchesthe key definition.

While the use of physical/logical pairing for some functions andstandalone keys and/or lights for other functions can be useful, suchconfigurations can crowd the face of the telephone and add to theexpense of manufacture. Thus, there is a need for a more flexible mannerof providing activation and indication of standalone functions.

II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the above, there is provided a telephone, including: aplurality of keys; a plurality of lights, one each adjacent to each ofthe keys; and, means for selectively performing logical coupling anddecoupling of a first function activated by depression of at least oneof said keys and a second function the activation of which is indicatedby an adjacent one of the lights.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an extra "keydefinition" entry in the key definition tables is maintained for thestandalone light. This definition is downloaded by the PBX at phoneinitialization time along with the rest of the key definitions. If thePBX defines a key definition as "local" then the user programs thedefinition of that key either via the phone keypad or through anapplication (the switch only knows that the key is defined at thephone). In this case, the user expects all key and light definitions tobe paired, including the special key/light pair reserved for separatefunctions when controlled by the switch.

Advantageously, the present invention enables the telephone to haveindependent usage of a key and its physically associated light. Further,the present invention enables a key and a light to be logically pairedfor one usage and logically decoupled for another. For example, a lightblinking at one rate can be used to indicate "call waiting", while thesame light blinking at another rate (or under other circumstances) canbe used to indicate that a key initiated feature has been activated.

The independent or dual usage of a light is achieved by using a specialcase code in the phone firmware when the lights are being lit viafeature indications from the switch. If the feature indication matchesthe key definition for the key reserved, for example, for mute, then thelight is lit only if the key is a locally defined key. In this way,lights for local keys will always match their key definition.Conversely, if the feature indication matches the definition for thestandalone light, the light next to the mute key is lit only if the keyis system defined.

III. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood by reference to thedrawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a telephone of a type suitable for anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing key/light definition and control logicaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the System Definition Table of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing key/light definition and control logicaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Like reference numerals appearing in more than one figure represent likeelements.

IV. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning first to FIG. 1, a telephone 100, of a type suitable for use inconjunction with the present invention, is illustrated. The telephone ofFIG. 1 includes a plurality of keys 102. For each of the keys 102 thereis a corresponding adjacently located light in the form of a lightemitting diode (LED) 104. The phone of FIG. 1 is also provided withvolume control keys 106, 108 (which have no corresponding LEDs), ahandset 110, a liquid crystal display 112, and a telephone keypad 114. Acomputer communications port 116 and a telephone network port 118 (forconnection to a branch exchange system) are provided at the rear of thetelephone.

The telephone of FIG. 1 can be advantageously combined with key/lightdefinition and control logic according to an embodiment of the presentinvention as illustrated in FIG. 2. The telephone of FIG. 2 is used inconjunction with a conventional PBX 202 such as a ROLM computerizedbranch exchange (CBX). The key/light definition and control logicincludes a read/write random access memory (RAM) 204, within which isdefined system key definition table (SDT) 206 and a user key definitiontable (UDT) 208. The SDT 206 is connected to receive key definition datafrom the PBX 202 via the telephone network communications port. The UDT208 is coupled to both the telephone keypad logic and to the computercommunications port so as to be programmable either directly from thekeypad or from an application program executing on a connected computer.

The memory 204 preferably includes a non-volatile portion and a volatileportion. The non-volatile portion can be embodied as an electricallyerasable memory, such as a EEPROM. The volatile portion can be embodiedas a conventional Dynamic or Static RAM. The UDT 208 is preferablystored in the non-volatile portion of the memory 204 to protect againstpower interruptions. The SDT 206 is stored in the volatile portion ofthe memory 204 and is reloaded from the PBX in the advent of a poweroutage. Alternatively, the SDT could also be stored in the non-volatilememory.

The telephone of FIG. 2 also includes key control logic (KCL) 210 andLED control logic (LCL) 212. The KCL 210 is connected to the keys 102,the PBX 202, the SDT 206 and the UDT 208. The LCL 212 is connected tothe LEDs 104, the PBX 202 (via the telephone communications port), theSDT 206 and the UDT 208.

The KCL 210 includes conventional logic to identify the key number of aspecific key that has been depressed. When a key is depressed the KCL210 scans the SDT 206 and the UDT 208 to determine the featuredefinition which has been programmed for the depressed key and sends afeature activation code to the PBX 202 by way of the telephone networkcommunications port.

The LCL 212 is connected to receive a cadence command from the PBX 202.The cadence command includes a feature code and LED cadence data (suchas blink rate). The LCL 212 uses the feature code to scan the SDT 206and the UDT 208, which return the appropriate LED number or numberscorresponding to the feature. When the LED numbers have been receivedfrom the SDT/UDT 206,208 the LCL 212 lights the LED so identified inaccordance with the cadence data received from the PBX 202.

A more detailed illustration of the SDT is shown in FIG. 3. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, the SDT is a table (formed in random accessmemory) which includes one entry for each key/LED pair on the telephone.According to an embodiment of the present invention, one of the SDTentries 302 is dedicated to the standalone key and an additional entry304 is provided for the standalone LED. It should be understood that thestandalone key and the standalone LED can be physically paired on thetelephone (i.e. physically laid out such that the standalone LED isadjacent to the standalone key). Thus, in a telephone with 10 key/LEDpairs, the table of FIG. 3 would include 11 entries.

Each entry in the SDT 206 (including that for the standalone key and thestandalone LED) includes a feature code 306, a key number 308, an LEDnumber 310, and a UDT flag 312. When the UDT flag is set to a "1" thekey/LED logic will look to the UDT for the key and LED definitions. TheUDT 208 is structured identically to the SDT 206 with the exception thatthe UDT entries do not include the UDT flag field.

The KCL 210 determines the proper key definition from the UDT/SDT asfollows: When the KCL 210 receives a key definition code from the PBX202 it looks in the SDT for a matching system key definition. The entryhaving the matching key definition will either indicate (via the UDTflag) that the key is locally defined or contains the actual systemdefinition. If the UDT flag indicates that the key is system defined(flag=0), the KCL accesses the key/LED definition fields (asappropriate) from the SDT. If the UDT flag indicates that the key islocally defined (flag=1), the KCL accesses the key definition field fromthe UDT 208.

The operation of the logic of FIG. 2, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention will be better understood by reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4. The process begins when a user presses a key. Inresponse, in step 402, the KCL scans the SDT 210 and the UDT (asdescribed above) to determine the key definition. Next, in step 404, theKCL sends the key definition to the PBX. In step 406 the PBX returns acadence command which includes a feature code (feature name) and LEDcadence data (such as blink rate). The cadence command is routed to theLCL, which, in step 408, scans the SDT and the UDT (using the same rulesas the KCL) to determine which LED definitions match the feature codesent by the PBX. It should be understood that more than one LEDdefinition may match the feature and thus more than one LED may be litin response thereto. Specifically, the LCL lights the LEDs according tothe following rules:

(a) Except for the standalone key entry and the standalone LED entrydefinitions, the LCL (by way of step 410) lights all LEDs for which thefeature code matches the key definition in either the SDT or the UDT.The standalone key/LED definitions are handled under rules (b) and (c).

(b) If the standalone key definition matches the feature code and islocally defined (is found in the UDT), in step 412 the LCL lights thestandalone LED.

(c) If the standalone LED definition matches the feature code and thestandalone key is system defined (is found in the SDT) in step 414 theLCL lights the standalone LED.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated inFIG. 5. In this embodiment, both the SDT and UDT have separate tablesfor all keys and LEDs on the telephone. In this way the key and LED thatare seen on the telephone face as a pair, each have separate definitions(the key definition found in the SDT key or UDT key table and the LEDdefinition found in the SDT LED or UDT LED table). Since all keys andLEDs on the phone have separate definitions, the keys and LEDs on thetelephone can be completely utilized.

Consider a user that has several autodial keys on his telephone. Sinceautodial keys do not use the associated LEDs, these LEDs are "wasted".Since, according to the principles of the present invention, the PBX candefine these keys and LEDs separately, then the user can continue to usethe keys for autodialing, but can also use those LEDs for other LED onlyfeatures such as a voice mail indication light. Note that the PBX canuse the key and LED pairs in the traditional manner by defining both thekey and its associated LED to the same feature.

It should be understood that, in addition, the PBX can continue todesignate that a key is locally defined, indicating that feature itsdefinition lies in the user tables. It can also separately indicate thatthe LED is locally defined. In this fashion, the switch can control akey and allow the user to control the LED and vice versa. If the PBXwants the user to have total control over both the key and LED, then itmarks both the key and LED as locally defined.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 5, a first table 501 (the KSDT) isprovided for system key definitions and a second table 502 (the LSDT) isprovided for system LED definitions. Local definitions also have anentire table 503 for keys and an entire table 504 for LEDs. Assumingthat the PBX gives control of both the key and LED to the user, the usercan determine whether the physical key/LED pair will function as alogical pair or act separately.

An application can control the telephone keys and LEDs by using commandsfrom a conventional command set for telephony (e.g. the ROLM commandset). For example, if the user's application needs to define the keynormally used for "Call Waiting" and control its LED, the applicationwould first verify (by reading the SDT 206) that the PBX has designatedthat key to be locally definable rather than system defined. Next, theapplication could use the ROLM "RD" (Repdial Definition) command todefine that key to "Mute" (code number 36).

In response to the user pressing the key which is now defined as Mute,the PBX would send the phone the feature indication for "Mute". Thephone will note that the key is locally defined, and so will let thedefinition of the key (the "Mute" definition) drive the key. Therefore,the "Mute" LED will light.

An alternative method of locally controlling that LED is to provide thekey definition via a series of keystrokes on the keys of the phone,rather than using an application program.

Now that the invention has been described by way of the preferredembodiment, various enhancements and improvements which do not departfrom the scope and spirit of the invention will become apparent to thoseof skill in the art. Thus it should be understood that the preferredembodiment has been provided by way of example and not by way oflimitation. The scope of the invention is defined by the appendedclaims.

We claim:
 1. A method of selecting functions in a telephone, said methodcomprising the steps of:a) defining a set of keys, said set includingplural keys; b) defining at least two key assignments, each assignmentgiving each key a function and each key having at least two keyassignments, a first one of said at least two key assignments being to abranch-exchange-defined function and a second one of said at least twokey assignments being to a user-defined function; and c) for any key insaid set, selecting between any of said assignments using a onlystandalone key.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assignmentselected is indicated by lighting a light.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein lighting said light indicates selection ofbranch-exchange-defined functions.
 4. The method of claim 2, whereinlighting said light indicates selection of user-defined functions. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein each of said assignments is stored inmemory and a processor is used to select among said assignments.
 6. Atelephone system including:a) a set of keys, said set including pluralkeys, each key having at least two key assignments, each assignmentgiving each key a function, a first one of said at least two keyassignments being to a branch-exchange-defined function and a second ofsaid at least two key assignments being to a user-defined function; andb) a standalone key that can be used alone to select any of saidassignments for any key in said set.
 7. The telephone of claim 6,further including a light, wherein the assignment selected is indicatedby lighting said light.
 8. The telephone of claim 7, said light when litindicates selection of branch-exchange-defined functions.
 9. Thetelephone of claim 7, wherein said light when lit indicates selection ofuser-defined functions.
 10. The telephone of claim 7 further comprisinga memory and a processor, wherein each of said assignments is stored insaid memory and said processor is used to select among said assignments.